Iowan is linked to former leader of Spokane NAACP chapter

There’s an Iowa tie now to the international story involving the controversial and now-former leader of a civil rights group on the West Coast. Rachel Dolezal resigned as head of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, Washington. She’s white and was outted by her parents for pretending to be black.

Her brother is an English professor at Central College in Pella and he faces felony charges. Thirty-nine-year-old Joshua Dolezal is accused of several counts of child sexual abuse in Colorado from a dozen years ago. The Central College campus community was told about the situation this week in an email from the school’s president. Dolezal remains on staff.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports the Dolezal parents refute the allegations against their son, implying their daughter may have orchestrated them.